Unwanted Guests
by Captain Jacky Sparrow
Summary: Lilah Doute is the Stepdaughter of infamous Gotham mobster Carmine Falcone. After receiving an unexpected visit, she becomes the host of an unwanted guest by the name of Dr. Jonathan Crane. Set before Batman Begins. Possible OC x Crane... possible... undecided.
1. Chapter 1

Lilah Doute was quiet, more so than usual. She had all the reason to be, in a city like Gotham, the only fun you could have was if you had the skill and right connections to go on a crime spring without being arrested or if you had plenty of money that you could block out the crime. Hilariously, she actually had both. Looking up from the long meeting table, her soft blue eyes scanned the empty meeting room. Her house served as a meeting place for the Falcone's, that was, when they weren't sitting around in a nightclub to avoid detection. No, her house was used for the important meetings and thanks to her mother, she had no choice but to comply. Narrowing her eyes slightly she rose from the chair, pacing around the dimly lighted room, Carmine 'The Roman' Falcone married her mother, Elizabeth Doute after the death of his first wife, Louisa. As a result, Carmine or 'father' as he requested to be called, gave her and her younger brother this house to share, resulting in her becoming very familiar with numerous unsavoury people. Luckily enough, Mercious stayed clear of most things, he mostly kept to himself or a nightclub, leaving Lilah to take control of the responsibility that was thrust upon them. The house was a nightmare in itself, but that wasn't even the worst of it. As well as hosting a bunch of criminals and mobsters, Lilah had the pleasure of 'funding' and occasionally having Carmine's 'friends' stay with them in order to use the multiple laboratories and other interesting places in the basement that Lilah swore was large then the house itself.

Hearing a knock on the door, Lilah turned her gaze to the doorway, where, much to her own disdain Carmine Falcone stood, wearing his best suit, a cigar hanging out of his lips, behind him was a younger, tall man with dark hair, his pretty blue eyes were shielded by a pair of moon rimmed glasses.

"Lilah." He smiled, holding out his hands as if asking for a hug (She really hoped he wasn't). Returning a small smile, Lilah nodded a greeting,

"Carmine." Clearing his throat, Carmine Falcone gave her a small glare, one she had often seen before, "I mean... father..." She trailed off, letting her eyes fall to the red carpet underneath her feet. Clapping his hands together, Carmine stepped into the room,

"Lilah, Lilah, Lilah..." He began, the taller man following him with a smug expression, "I have someone I'd like you to meet." Clenching her jaw, Lilah stepped forward, this wasn't the first time Carmine had told her he 'had someone for her to meet'. After his own two daughters and son married off, Lilah was the last, excluding Mercious, who was mature enough and valuable enough to be married off to a rich family in order to establish more ties between the Falcone family and whatever family the tall guy came from. Glancing around the room, Lilah quickly located the closest and easiest escape routes, Carmine's weight gave her some advantage, as did her ten years of gymnastics, courtesy of her beloved mother, the tall man was a mystery, but he seemed arrogant enough to get past, "Well.. once again, I'm flattered." She began stepping closer towards the pair of them, her eyes locked onto the tall man, analysing him as she walked closer, he was nice to look at and would probably make a great little statue for Mercious to later destroy, but as for a husband, she would probably kill him in his sleep and then dump his pretty body in the lake somewhere outside of Gotham, "But... I really think maybe... we should do this another time... I mean, he looks lovely, no really he does... but I am quite busy." She smiled, looking around for some inspriation about what she could be busy with. After receiving a slight frown from both men, Carmine finally let out a loud laugh, causing Lilah to jump slightly,

"You are a funny one." He chuckled, attempting to make light of the mood, turning to the tall man, he smiled lightly, "Lilah, I would like you to meet a business partner of mine, Dr. Jonathan Crane, he works as a psychologist down at Arkham Asylum." Upon hearing the name, her heart sank, Dr. Jonathan Crane, everyone in Gotham new that name, he was renowed for his work, his honest work that was, not many new of his dishonest work, but there were plenty of false rumours around about practically everyone in the city, so she was almost certain that somewhere there were people who believed Dr. Crane was the definition of evil. Stepping forward, Dr. Crane held out his hand, the same arrogant look on his otherwise nice looking face, returning the courtesy, Lilah shook his hand, _A strong handshake? No wonder Carmine agreed to do business with him. _

"It's nice to meet you. I've heard quite a bit about you." He said, clearly no more then fake politeness. Raising her eyebrow, she nodded once,

"Yes, I'm sure." She smiled sarcastically, which, much to her surprise considering Falcone's usual company, he picked up on, returning a snide expression. "And what is the purpose of this introduction?" She asked, turning her attention to Carmine,

"Dr. Crane and I have begun business together. Classified business." He added. Lilah rolled her eyes, biting her tongue in restraint, "For research purposes and other purposes, he will be residing here."

"Does he not have a house?" Lilah asked, dumbfounded at the idea of a citizen of Gotham living with her, usually her 'guests' were from out of town or needed to hide from someone.

"Yes. I have a house." Dr. Crane muttered, pursing his lips and arches his eyebrow at her, "However, it has been agreed that seeing as how many of my experiments are conducted at Arkham Asylum, it would be much easier to be in an environment where disruptions aren't an issue." He said in a matter-of-factly tone of voice. Lilah grinned lightly,

"You haven't met my brother, Mercious then?" She asked, receiving a dirty look from Dr. Crane. So far, this wasn't going well for anyone and now that she thought about it, she new she was going to regret her decision of 'screwing everything up' as Carmine often put it.

"Lilah." Carmine's tone was demanding and a clear indicator that she should stop, "I would highly suggest that you make Dr. Crane comfortable while here and-"

"Under no circumstances disturb me while I conduct my research." Dr. Crane finished.

"How cute." Lilah smirked, "Finishing each other's sentences." Receiving yet another glare from both men, Lilah gave in, giving a small nod, "Alright, fine, you'll have your peace and whatever else pretty boys like you need." She added, tilting his head in frustration, Dr. Crane raised both his eyebrows,

"Have you finished?" He asked. Lilah's brow furrowed in contemplation,

"Hmmm... Yeah, I think that's it." After a brief moment of silence, in which Lilah and Dr. Crane locked eyes, each staring the other down, Carmine spoke,

"You have everything you need then. I do hope you inform our friend that I have been more than happy to provide you with what you need for the operation. Dr. Crane, remained still, his blue eyes still locked onto Lilah before shifting to Carmine, the corners of his lips curving upward in a small smile that looked to much like a smirk for Lilah's liking.

"Indeed..." Looking between them, Dr. Crane nodded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make myself familiar with this... place." He finished, his eyes distastefully shifting around the room.

"Oh yeah, you do that. Try not to trip, I wouldn't like you to ruin that nice suit of yours." Lilah spat bitterly. The more she spoke to this man, the more she disliked him and who knew how long she would be forced to endure his clearly unpleasant company. Without another word, Dr. Crane shot her a smug smile before turning on his heel and disappearing from the room, leaving her and her stepfather alone.

"How dare you try an embarrass me in front of guests." Carmine growled in a low voice, pointing his finger accusingly at her. Taking a small breath, Lilah smiled,

"You brought him here. I don't care about the business you have with him. I know his reputation and quite frankly, it's pretty clear he knows it too." She argued, "I didn't sign up to be your babysitter, be grateful I haven't already shot him." Carmine raised his fist, causing Lilah to flinch before he slowly let it drop back down to his side, his expression was nothing short of pure rage, "You're lucky I married your mother or else-"

"Or else what?" After another short pause, Carmine gave out a small chuckle,

"You've got fire. I like that. You know I do, Li." He grinned as if nothing was wrong, "But look after Dr. Crane, this business with him is very important." After yet another pause, Lilah gave in, giving a reluctant nod, Carmine Falcone was terrifying, even to her, she would be stupid to cross him, or anyone else he had relations with, including Dr. Crane. "Very good." Carmine exclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder and removing the cigar from his mouth, holding it between two chubby fingers, "I shall return in a weeks time to check in." He said, taking a puff on the cigar and blowing the smoke out.

"I thoroughly look forward to that." Lilah smiled, she was thankful that Dr. Crane wasn't here seeing as how he was the first person she had come across who was able to pick up on her obvious sarcasm. Giving her another grin, Carmine gave his final goodbyes before following in Crane's footsteps and leaving her alone in her large, unwanted house with her unwanted guest.


	2. Chapter 2

As she left the meeting room, Lilah's eyes scanned the corridors, following them in caution, light brown hair was tied back in a long ponytail. The last thing she needed was to run into Dr. Crane, especially after that meeting. Shaking her head, Lilah took a short breath, trying to calm herself as she entering the dining room and taking a seat at the unnecessarily large table that sat in the middle of the room. She didn't want anyone of Carmine's 'friends' in her house. She had her own issues, for example, her mother being married to Carmine Falcone, that was the big issue and for nearly eight years she had been trying to convince her mother that he wasn't good for her, but would she listen? No. Apparently love meant more to her then the safety and well-being of not only herself but her own children. Fair enough, Lilah was old enough to look after herself, in two months time she would be 28 years old, Mercious however was only nineteen, he needed a mother and a proper father-figure more then anything. He needed someone who could lead him in the right direction and more importantly, to make him realize that there's more to life then partying.

"Lilah?" Stopping in her tracks, she turned to lock her eyes onto the dark haired man, who in her opinion was more of a boy than a man, himself, his hair was a tangled mess and his blue eyes were tired, "Why is there a lawyer in our house?" He yawned. Lilah smiled,

"He's not a lawyer, he's a doctor. His name is Dr. Jonathan Crane." She answered. Mercious shrugged,

"Doesn't he live in Gotham?"

"Yes."

"Then why is he here?" Mercious asked, his brow furrowing in frustration, "I'm sick of having to lock my door in fear of some psycho kidnapping me or killing me in my sleep." He whined.

"I know." She nodded, "But, what do you want _me _to do? Our dear stepfather makes sure we do as we are told. He's married to our mother remember?" She replied. Mercious crossed his arms, moving closer towards her,

"Fine. But, I still don't understand why this Dr. Crane is staying with us." He said, his brow furrowing as he spoke. Lilah watched him, if anyone was going to get hurt, it would be her. There was no way she would ever let anything happen to Mercious, she owed that to her father, her _real _father. Looking at Mercious, it was almost looking at a photo of her father when he was young, the resemblance was uncanny, but whether or not he would be proud of what his children would be was another story. Adrian Doute spent his life trying to bring down organised crime. A well respected officer of the law. That was, _before_ he was shot dead in an empty alleyway. It was a year later when her mother married Carmine Falcone. From the law to the mob. That was a change that could only be made by her charming mother. Everything her family stood for was demolished and now, Lilah was responsible for co-handling the Falcone's drug industry alongside Carmine and his son, Mario Falcone. She was a criminal herself, a very good one, hence why she was able to keep the maintenance for her house and avoid prison at the same time and yet, here she was playing the honorable card with her own brother,

"He's here for only a little while, then he's gone." She said, "Then everything goes back to normal." Mercious laughed lightly,

"I love how you still think this _isn't _normal." Lilah pursed her lips,

"Mmhm, now do me a favour and don't do anything to piss of Crane. I've already done that honor for the both of us." She mumbled.

"What did you do?" Mercious asked. Lilah smirked, her eyes falling to her feet, it seemed only Mercious was aware of her hatred for Carmine Falcone.

"What I always do." She said, "He died today you know. Our dad. Our real dad." Looking back up, Mercious raised both his eyebrows,

"I know and that was nine years ago, Li. It's time to move on. Maybe go get yourself a boyfriend, adopt a kid, something poetic." Mercious said with a smirk. Lilah glared, but she guessed it was time to taste her own medicine. "Look, I don't like Falcone either, but mother has been married to the man for eight years, somehow I don't think they're going to divorce anytime soon. Especially when mother legally can take half of what he's got. But, in saying that, I have been wrong before. I honestly thought you were going to marry that boyfriend of yours eight years ago. Instead, dad died and you decided it would be a great idea to cut everyone off, break up with the most awesome guy ever and then hide behind a metaphorical mask of sarcasm and hate." Locking her eyes onto his, Lilah narrowed her eyes slightly, for a nineteen year old brat, he sure was inquisitive.

"Family problems?" Crane's voice sounded from behind Lilah, who gave out a sigh and she turned on her heel,

"Not at all." She said shortly, "Find everything okay?"

"Well, it seems that this place isn't as complex as Falcone led me to believe." Crane mused, his eyes scanning the painting on the walls. "I think the basement will be sufficient, as well as the fifth bedroom on the left in the last corridor towards the kitchen." He said with a small smile before setting his eyes onto the siblings,

"Dr. Crane, I'm guessing." Mercious said stepping towards the doctor, holding his hand out as he did so. Taking his hand in a tight grip, Crane shook it, the same, pleasant smile on his face as when he shook her hand, "I've heard quite a bit about you. Your work is remarkable." Mercious said politely, earning himself a nod of approval from Crane,

"Thank you. It's nice to know my work is appreciated... Now, if I may be excused, I will begin my work." He said, giving Mercious a small nod before striding past both of them, the same brief case in his hand,

"Now you see, Li. _That's _how you don't piss people off. Plus, he's a doctor, so free medical, right?" Lilah chuckled lightly,

"You do realize that when I say doctor, I mean psychologist at Arkham Asylum, right?" She asked, "Meaning that he more than likely knew you were lying." Mercious paused, his eyes locked onto his older sister's,

"Shit."

"Indeed." Lilah muttered through gritted teeth, she was honestly fearful of Carmine's return, especially when this man, Dr. Crane wasn't like his usual friends. Most of the people Mercious and herself dealt with were mobsters or thieves without a brain, or a very slow one.

"Well, I'll see you later." Mercious smiled, snapping Lilah back into reality, "Have fun with the doctor that isn't actually a doctor."

"When is later?" She asked as Mercious began to walk away from her,

"I don't know, a week or two?" He replied, not stopping or looking back at her. Lilah gave a small nod, maybe finding a boyfriend wasn't such a bad idea. But then again, she wasn't too keen on... people. She would more then likely find herself with one of Falcone's fanboys attempting to win over his favour and more importantly, money. So all in all, it was a bad idea. Of course it was, anything that came from Mercious' mouth was either a load of crap or a bad idea.


	3. Chapter 3

A month had passed, rather slowly too. Mercious was still gone, occasionally Lilah would get a phone call, but rather then that, he was gone. Dr. Crane kept to himself, not that she complained, they still were on rather bad times, but Lilah decided it was time to step up. Gotham was nothing but a crime soaked hell hole and people like her father were long dead and gone. Carmine had been trying to get her into the 'family business' for years now, and today, today she was going to step up, move on and finally accept that life wasn't fair and that no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck with Carmine Falcone and his annoying children.

Carmine's house was huge, to her it was more like a hotel and she would be very surprised if Carmine didn't get lost. Thankfully, one of his servants ushered her into the large meeting room with twelve others, all men excluding herself and her stepsister, Sofia. Taking a seat beside Mario and another man she hadn't heard of. She remained completely silent out throughout the entirety of the meeting, taking in only what mattered to her, like things about Crane and the drug business. But as she watched the others, she noticed that most of them did what she did, only paying attention to things that mattered to them and laughing whenever Carmine did. Smiling lightly, her eyes fell onto Carmine, the entire city was his through fear and she wondered whether or not he had a single ally who wasn't by his side out of fear. Fear was power, or at least, that's what she gathered, all her life she had been met by fear and the things it was capable of.

"Lilah." Carmine said, drawing his attention to her, as did the rest of the room, "Go down to the shipment and oversee everything. If problems come up, you know what to do" Usually, she would question his decisions, but Lilah was determined to change, to make life a little easier.

"Understood." She said, giving him a nod. Carmine stared at her for only a second or two before smiling broadly,

"Very good. The shipment will be in about an hour or two. He said, handing her a series of paperwork. "I hope you aware that there can be no mistakes. This is an important shipment." After giving him another small nod, she rose from where she sat, eyes still fixated on her stepfather,

"You don't have to worry about anything, everything will go as planned." Without another word, Lilah collected the paper work and her belonging and was once again ushered out by one of the servants. As she followed the small blonde woman down the stairs, Lilah read over the paperwork, it was all simple enough, all she really had to do was oversee that everything was stored correctly and of course, to make sure no one contacted the police or stole any of the Falcone's product. As the blonde woman stopped at the front door, Lilah gave her a small smile before stepping into the bright sunlight.

"The limousine is waiting for you." The blonde woman said before shutting the door. Looking around, Lilah's eyes fell onto the black limousine that she assumed was the one she was supposed to take. As she walked towards it, the driver started the engine, his eyes locked onto her as she passed the passenger side and climbed into the back, moving towards the front of the limousine and taking a seat.

Gotham was a rather large city, at the centre stood Wayne Enterprises. A useless building in Falcone's opinion. Since the disappearance of Bruce Wayne, the building has been run by a bunch of business men, all bickering over how Thomas Wayne wanted the business run. There were also places like Crime alley, that was where Lilah was headed. Previously known as Park Row, Crime Alley as it was unofficially called was the home of the Park Row tragedy, where Thomas and Martha Wayne had been shot down by Joe Chill, who met the same fate when he was granted parole. Taking an unexpected left turn, Lilah frowned,

"Where are we going? The shipment is that way." Lilah said, pointing in the other direction, the driver ignored her and continued driving in the same direction. Taking a small, nervous breath, Lilah felt her jacket pockets for the small gun in her pocket, and upon feeling it's distinct shape, breathed a sigh of relief. If she was going to die, she would go down fighting. Surely if the shipment had changed location someone would have told her, no matter how unlikely that was. All these questions swam through her head, but there was something she couldn't shake, the area was familiar, as if she had been here before. That's when it hit her, they were heading back to her house.

"Would you tell me why we are going back to my house?" She asked, tapping on the glass between her and the driver.

"We are picking up Dr. Crane." The driver answered in a short husky tone.

"Has my stepfather told you to do that?" She asked, attempting to make her tone of voice sound authoritative as she spoke.

"I don't take my orders from Carmine Falcone." He spat. Lilah remained silent, her fear was growing by the instant,

"Then perhaps I have taken the wrong limousine..." Her voice trailed off. The driver chuckled lightly to himself,

"No, Miss Doute. Dr. Crane has requested your presence." That was when her heart sank, she knew there was something wrong.

As they pulled up alongside her mansion/house, Dr. Crane opened the door and sat across from her, a briefcase resting on his lap. He was well-dressed for the occasion- wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt and tie, his hair was neatly parted in the middle and his glasses had been polished. As the limousine began to drive back down the way it came, Dr. Crane turned his attention to Lilah, who crossed her legs, watching out the window,

"I have a job for you." He said. Lilah continued to look out the window, but she could still feel his eyes watching her, waiting for a reply,

"As does my stepfather." She answered, forcing herself to look at Dr. Crane, "He wants me at the shipment." She said. Dr. Crane smiled,

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But surely you can do two jobs at once." He said, Lilah gritted her teeth, she had no patience for this man, "You see, in one of the crates, there is a box I want." He explained, choosing his words ever so carefully as to be sure only to give out information he wanted her to know.

"Does this box have a significance?" She asked, her eyes locked onto his. Dr. Crane had lovely blue eyes and now that they were sitting down, talking face to face for once, this was the first time she had actually noticed them.

"It is vital for one of my experiments." He said, "My contacts have informed me that information regarding this shipment has been given to detective-sergeant James Gordon. It seems he is planning to ambush Falcone's men." Shaking her head, Lilah frowned at him,

"How do you know that? More importantly, how does Carmine _not_ know that? He knows everything that goes on in the city."

"It seems, Gordon hasn't shared information with everyone on the squad." Crane answered, looking out the window, "So far, I'm unsuspected of any foul play and according to my sources, you're also unsuspected." He said, Lilah watched him, she was still unsure at what it was exactly he was asking about. Obviously, Carmine Falcone's well-being meant little to nothing to him, but why on earth would he trust her with any information? She could quite easily tell Carmine about Crane's actions and then the next thing she would know, Crane's body would be found dumped in a lake. "As of today, you work for me." He smiled, turning his head to face her, his head tilted slightly,

"Usually, you pick employees you can trust." She smiled lightly. Crane stared at her with an expression that was hard to read before he reluctantly smiled,

"Why wouldn't you work for me? You hate your stepfather more then anything and it's quite obvious that my business with him is based solely on what he can do for me. All he wants is for the occasional idiot to be sent to my asylum." He said his smile changing to a slight look of irritation at her wariness. Looking away from him, the limousine came to a steady stop and without a word, Lilah reached for the door handle only to have Crane take a hold of her wrist, pulling her closer to him with a slight glare,

"What are you doing?" Lilah asked, Crane said nothing, his face only a few inches away from hers, the grip around her wrist tightening,

"Do I have your loyalty? Or do I not?" Pulling out of his hold and sitting back, Lilah took a breath, letting her eyes fall to her lap. She didn't trust or like Crane, but anything to get back at her stepfather for ruining her family was more then enough for her,

"I'm with you." She breathed, her eyes flicking back at the dark haired man, "Now tell me what you want me to do."

* * *

Authors note: My apologies for the rather slow start. Thank you to anyone reading this, please remember to leave a review!

It's been quite some time since my last Fanfiction for those familiar with my other stories. This is really just for fun, I figured since I am a huge Batman fan, I may as well go about writing one for it.

Thank you so much as always!

xx

Jackie


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